Doctor insights on:
Cardiac Genetics

1

Multiple things:
Cardiac output is the product of heart rate in stroke volume. Thus, an increase in heart rate results in an increase in cardiac output. Stroke volume can be affected by changes in preload, afterload, and contractility (strength of contraction). Preload is "priming the pump". Afterload is the resistance to ejection during systole (contraction).
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From a medical standpoint, "genetic" refers to the potential heritability of various medical conditions. While some conditions are inevitable (at some point in one's life) as a consequence of simple genetic heritability (eg huntington's disease), a large number of medical conditions (including all behaviorial health disorders) are the expressed final pathway of a complex interplay of factors.
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4

Unknown:
Cardiac tumors are so rare, there are no treatment guidelines or clinical trials to answer any questions about them. Most tumors in the heart come from other places and don't originate from the heart itself. The one true "heart cancer" is a cardiac sarcoma. As far as we know, it is not genetic.
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5

Cardiac output:
In strict physiologic terms, cardiac output is determined by something called stroke volume and heart rate. Heart rate is self-explanatory. Stroke volume is the amount of blood that the heart pumps out with each beat. This in turn is dependent on blood pressure, total blood volume, and how strong the heart contracts.
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6

Some of it:
Even though 8 out of every 1000 babies born will have have some form of heart defect, when there is a first line family member affected the number goes up to about 16-30/1000 (for some particular defects this number will be higher) so this would suggest a genetic component...We just haven't learned enough about genetics and the heart to be more precise, but this is changing every day.
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7

Genes play a role:
Researchers are currently trying to identify genes that increase one's risk for getting artery disease and heart attacks. By looking at families who have several generations with such diseases, researchers have found certain genes are involved. Some genes cause cholesterol levels to stay high. The challenge now is to figure out how each of the identified genes leads to artery disease and blockage.
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14

Many factors:
Smoking, cholesterol (ldl, hdl, triglycerides), genetics, diet (for cholesterol), daily exercise/good fitness level, diabetes (know and control your blood sugar), medications - these are the main factors influencing the development of CAD other than other diseases that could have a tremendous impact on the progress of cad.
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17

Cardiac output:
In strict physiologic terms, cardiac output is determined by something called stroke volume and heart rate. Heart rate is self-explanatory. Stroke volume is the amount of blood that the heart pumps out with each beat. This in turn is dependent on blood pressure, total blood volume, and how strong the heart contracts.
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18

Coronary artery dz:
The most common cause is disease of the coronary arteries, but problems in the electrical conducting system can also be a cause. Cardiomyopathies of many different causes are associated with sudden cardiac arrest. Many of these people have implanted defibrillators to reduce this risk.
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